Pintip Ruenwongsa

Enhancing nursing students’ skills in vital signs assessment by using multimedia computer-assisted learning with integrated content of anatomy and physiology

Due to constraints of increasing number of nursing students and a disproportionate shortfall of faculty members in nursing schools, it was necessary to supplement traditional lecture or lecture-demonstration with on-line multimedia materials and/or multimedia compact discs for enhancing learning. The authors have developed a computer-assisted learning (CAL) multimedia on vital signs with animation and audio features for teaching in the classroom based on the 5Es inquiry cycle. When the CAL was tried on second-year undergraduates in two comparable schools, all groups of students gained significantly higher performance skills regardless of whether the groups were subjected to CAL/lecture or CAL/lecture/demonstration. However, they did not gain in factual knowledge.

Development of a web-based learning medium on mechanism of labour for nursing students

This study aimed to develop a web-based learning media on the process and mechanism of labour for the third-year university nursing and midwifery students. This media was developed based on integrating principles of the mechanism of labour with the 5Es inquiry cycle and interactive features of information technology. In this study, the web-based learning unit was used to supplement the conventional lecture as in the traditional teaching. Students achievements were assessed by using the pre- and post-test on factual knowledge and semi-structured interviews on attitude to the unit. Supplementation with this learning unit made learning significantly more effective than the traditional lecture by itself. The students also showed positive attitude toward the learning unit.

Molecular and morphological evidence supports the species status of the Mahachai fighter Betta sp. Mahachai and reveals new species of Betta from Thailand

Two regions of mitochondrial (mt) DNA, cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI) and 16S rRNA, were sequenced in nine species of Betta from Thailand and Indonesia. Most species showed little intraspecific COI variation (adjusted mean = 0.48%) including the putative species Betta sp. Mahachai, but one species (Betta smaragdina) included three lineages showing much greater divergence (7.03-13.48%) that probably represent overlooked species. These findings were confirmed by maximum likelihood analysis and Bayesian inference, which revealed well-supported corresponding monophyletic clades. Based on these results and morphological differences, the putative species Betta sp. Mahachai from central Thailand is a species distinct from other members of the B. splendens group and represents a new and hitherto undescribed species. Furthermore, this study also demonstrated the probable existence of two overlooked Betta species found in the Khorat plateau basin, illustrating the utility of mitochondrial genetic markers in the revelation of overlooked diversity.

Liver collagen turnover in hamsters during infection by the human liver fluke, Opisthorchis viverrini

Hamsters infected with Opisthorchis viverrini, a liver fluke of man, showed an increased deposition of collagen in their livers. However, increased collagen breakdown as well as its synthesis were observed in the infected livers. Thus, stimulated synthesis might be the main factor responsible for the net increase in collagen content. Synthesis and degradation increased to a greater extent in short-term infection than in long-term infection whereas the hepatic collagen content was equally elevated in both cases. The results, therefore, suggested a difference in collagen metabolism of short-term and long-term infected livers.

An interactive web-based learning unit to facilitate and improve intrapartum nursing care of nursing students

First clinical exposures are stressful situations for nursing students, especially, when practicing on the labour ward. The purpose of this study was to develop intrapartum nursing care web-based learning to facilitate students acquisition of conceptual knowledge and performance skills. This web-based learning unit integrated the 5E-model and information technology with the lecture content. Eighty four nursing students were recruited in the study. The control group received traditional teaching, while the experimental group was supplemented with the web-based learning unit on intrapartum nursing care. The results showed that the students in the experimental group had significant higher scores in conceptual knowledge and performance skill. The students also had significant lower scores in ignorance - related stress when compared to those of the control group. The students supplemented with the web-based course showed a strong positive attitude toward the new learning method.

Hand-held model of a sarcomere to illustrate the sliding filament mechanism in muscle contraction

From our teaching of the contractile unit of the striated muscle, we have found limitations in using textbook illustrations of sarcomere structure and its related dynamic molecular physiological details. A hand-held model of a striated muscle sarcomere made from common items has thus been made by us to enhance students understanding of the sliding filament mechanism as well as their appreciation of the spatial arrangements of the thick and thin filaments. The model proves to be quite efficacious in dispelling some alternative conceptions held by students exposed previously only to two-dimensional textbook illustrations and computer graphic displays. More importantly, after being taught by this hand-held device, electronmicrographic features of the A and I bands, H zone, and Z disk can be easily correlated by the students to the positions of the thick and thin elements relatively sliding past one another. The transverse expansion of the sarcomere and the constancy of its volume upon contraction are also demonstrable by the model.

Liver procollagen prolyl hydroxylase in Opisthorchis viverrini infected hamsters after praziquantel administration.

Infection of hamsters by the human liver fluke Opisthorchis viverrini elevated liver procollagen prolyl hydroxylase activity, reflecting increased collagen biosynthesis. The increase was proportional to the intensity of infection. However, the infected liver procollagen prolyl hydroxylase activity decreased after administration of praziquantel 300 mg kg-1 body weight, and approached normal levels two weeks after treatment. In the infected hamsters, praziquantel, at a curative dose, caused a transient increase in serum aminotransferase levels and a small but persistent rise in serum alkaline phosphatase. The drug, however, did not cause changes in these enzyme activities in the uninfected hamsters.

Beyond textbook illustrations: Hand-held models of ordered DNA and protein structures as 3D supplements to enhance student learning of helical biopolymers

Textbook illustrations of 3D biopolymers on printed paper, regardless of how detailed and colorful, suffer from its two‐dimensionality. For beginners, computer screen display of skeletal models of biopolymers and their animation usually does not provide the at‐a‐glance 3D perception and details, which can be done by good hand‐held models. Here, we report a study on how our students learned more from using our ordered DNA and protein models assembled from colored computer‐printouts on transparency film sheets that have useful structural details. Our models (reported in BAMBED 2009), having certain distinguished features, helped our students to grasp various aspects of these biopolymers that they usually find difficult. Quantitative and qualitative learning data from this study are reported. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education Vol. 38, No. 6, pp. 359‐364, 2010

Phylogenetic Analysis of Parasitic Trematodes of the Genus Euclinostomum Found in Trichopsis and Betta Fish

Abstract:u2003 Many species of fish in the world are infected with digenean trematodes belonging to the genera Clinostomum and Euclinostomum. In this study, metacercariae, identified as Euclinostomum sp. on the basis of morphological characteristics and molecular data, were taken from 3 osphronemid fish—Trichopsis vittata, Trichopsis schalleri, and Betta imbellis, in Thailand. Phylogenetic analysis based on a mitochondrial gene (cytochrome c oxidase subunit I) and 2 nuclear genes (18S rDNA and ITS—internal transcribed spacer) of these Euclinostomum parasites indicated a clear distinction from those belonging to the Clinostomum genus. These are the first records of partial mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences of an Euclinostomum sp.

Serine hydroxymethyltransferase from pyrimethamine-sensitive and -resistant strains of Plasmodium chabaudi

Serine hydroxymethyltransferase (EC 2.1.2.1) was partially purified from a pyrimethamine sensitive strain of Plasmodium chabaudi. Km values of 2.91 and 1.08 mM were determined for tetrahydrofolate and serine, respectively. The effects of pH, of temperature and of some potential inhibitors were determined. The enzyme was also partially purified from a pyrimethamine-resistant strain of P. chabaudi and subjected to the same regime. No differences between the enzymes from the two sources could be detected. It would appear that the changes in properties in the enzymes dihydrofolate reductase and thymidylate synthetase associated with the development of drug resistance in P. chabaudi were not reflected in any obvious alterations in serine hydroxymethyltransferase.